The long way
by dayana82
Summary: Even after Lynch is out of the picture and Derek finally realized his feelings for Penelope, they still have a long way ahead of them. MorganGarcia
1. Accidentally in love

**Title: **Accidentally in love

**Fandom:** Criminal Minds

**Pairing:** Morgan/Garcia

**Prompt for ****10 dates:** #8 Surprise

**Rating:** K

**Disclaimer:** Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.

**Summary:** Part 1/? of the "Long way" series. Derek discovers some feelings he hadn't known were there.

**warnings:** none

It was official. He was in hell. Someone definitely hated him.

Not only did they have to solve a case in Alaska, it had taken them three weeks to finally catch the unsub and he was almost frozen to death. And now that it was over they weren't able to take off because of a freaking blizzard!

Oh, and his third problem was just approaching him. Bambie Miller, one of the detectives in the field office in Alaska. Seriously, who would name their child 'Bambie'?! She was tall, blonde and certainly the most unnerving woman Derek had ever met.

On the first day they had met she'd practically jumped at him – and apparently she couldn't accept no for an answer. And worst of all she'd snapped at Penelope when the latter had been on speaker and flirted with Derek.

And right now Bambie was approaching him again.

"So", she grinned as she sat down lasciviously on the desk Derek was sitting at, "since you're snowed in I thought we could go out and have some drinks."

"No, thanks." he grumbled as he tried to flash her a smile that told her to back off. Unfortunately, she didn't understand.

"Why not?" the blonde-haired woman pouted.

Derek rolled his eyes. How direct did he have to be? "Because I'm not in the mood, okay?!"

She eyed him up suspiciously. "You look like someone who knows how to have fun." she leaned over the table offering much more insight than Derek wanted to have. "And I'm sure we would have a lot of fun."

"Okay, if you want to know the truth, I'm in love with someone else so all your effort is useless. And now excuse me!" he grunted and then stood up to walk away from her leaving her with her mouth hanging open.

JJ's jaw dropped at his words and she hurried after him: "What was that?"

"What was what?" Derek grumbled.

"You just blew off a hot woman who was practically in your bed waiting for you – and you said you were in love with someone else." JJ reminded him.

Derek frowned at her. He wasn't sure why he'd said that or where that had come from. He hadn't even thought about his words.

"So?" he finally asked.

JJ's eyes widened. "Are you serious? You are in love?"

"No offense, JJ, but I don't think that's any of your business." he mumbled and stomped back into his hotel room to take a hot shower. He was still freezing.

Sighing Derek opened his laptop and waited for her smiling face to appear on the screen.

"Hey, sunshine, what can I do to brighten your day?" she greeted happily.

He smiled, the first genuine smile that day. "You already did, baby girl."

"That bad, huh?" she gave him a sympathetic look.

Sighing again Derek grabbed a piece of the pizza he'd ordered and mumbled: "You so have no idea."

"Poor baby." Penelope grinned as she admiringly shoved some of the Chinese food she'd just ordered into her mouth.

Derek let his head drop. "You're depressing me, you know that?"

"Why?" she asked puzzled.

"Because you're having a delicious meal while I'm eating this." he replied and pointed at the slack piece of pizza in his hand.

She grimaced: "Why aren't you out having some fun with Bambie instead of spoiling this meal for me?"

"I'm sorry about her behavior earlier." Derek frowned. "I hope you didn't take what she said too serious. She's a pain in the ass."

Penelope was astonished for a moment. She hadn't expected him to apologize for this girl's behavior – nor admitting that she wasn't exactly the most pleasant person in the world. Then it hit her. "So, she blew you off, huh?"

Snorting slightly Derek replied: "No, to be honest, she asked me out. Well, she could as well have just ripped her cloths off in front of me, if you know what I mean."

"Okay, Derek, spill it! What's wrong with you?" she demanded to know.

Derek raised his eyebrows at her: "What do you mean? There's nothing wrong with me."

"You haven't been out in quite some time and now you are the one blowing off a hot chick who's throwing herself into your arms and whom you most likely won't meet again. Why didn't you take your chance?" she exclaimed.

Derek thought about it for a moment. It wasn't that he'd paid much attention to a girl's character before. Not that he hadn't been choosy, but since he never really wanted a relationship… Thinking about it he had to admit that Penelope was right. He hadn't been out in quite a while. Instead he'd spent many evenings alone wondering what in the world Penelope had found in that geek Lynch. Fortunately, that wasn't a problem anymore.

"Maybe I just chose to have dinner with you over drinking with her." he grinned and waggled his eyebrows at Penelope.

She looked at the pizza in his hands and then back into his face: "You can't really call THAT having dinner with me."

He chuckled: "Well, call it the date of the future."

"Yeah, I bet that's gonna be the new kind of speed dating in the future." she giggled and then her eyes widened. "Wait, did you just say date?"

"Um… yeah, I guess so." he shrugged. They'd been out so many times and he'd never called one of their evenings spent together a date. So why did that term occur to him when they were eating while chatting via webcam? It didn't make any sense.

Okay, so he was definitely not himself at the moment. That certainly was due to the cold in Alaska… So she decided to let it go. "Call me old-fashioned, but I really don't think that should count as a date."

Derek sighed again as he chewed on another piece of pizza. "I promise I'll make up for that once I'm back at Quantico."

And immediately Penelope's mood lightened considerably. "I'm so gonna take you up on that, hot stuff." she grinned.


	2. Bonus

**Title: **Bonus

**Fandom:** Criminal Minds

**Pairing:** Morgan/Garcia

**Prompt for ****10 dates:** #5 Movie theater

**Rating:** K

**Disclaimer:** Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.

**Summary:** Part 2/10 of the 'Long Way' series. Derek, a Will Smith movie and dual seats.

**warnings:** none

"Hey, baby girl!" Derek greeted as he entered her office and then waved two tickets at her. "Look what I got!"

Penelope gasped and then squealed excitedly: "Tickets to the premiere of Seven Pounds? Where did you get them? I've been trying to get these tickets like three months now!"

"Well, I have a few connections myself." Derek grinned at her. "So, is that a date?"

"What?" Penelope burst out and then her eyes widened in shock. "You want to take ME with you?"

"Whom else, goddess?" he chuckled and then leaned in to kiss her cheek. "Consider it a belated birthday present. So, do we have a date for tomorrow night or not?"

Penelope bit her lip. Actually, she'd planned on going on a date that night with a rather nice guy she'd met some weeks ago in an auto-shop. But if the alternative was watching the premiere of 'Seven Pounds' with Derek… "Sure, you can count me in."

"Great." Derek smiled and bowed out. "I'll pick you up at seven."

"Okay." she beamed. Then she pulled out her cell phone and made a call to cancel her date for the next night. She felt a bit guilty when she blew the guy off, but it didn't seem like he was taking it too hard. Shrugging Penelope put her cell back into her pocket.

That behavior didn't ruin her mood one bit. After all, she was about to watch a new movie starring one of her favorite actors – and she was going to watch it with her all time favorite chocolate God.

Thus, she was more than excited as she searched her closet for something appropriate to wear.

Exactly two minutes before seven she heard a knock on her door. Smiling she opened and then gasped a little. "Hell, you look gorgeous!" Penelope burst out as she took in his appearance, the tight black jeans and the even tighter shirt he was wearing.

"You aren't hard on the eye either." Derek returned her smile and looked up and down her body with an appreciating whistle.

"Flatterer." she mumbled as she took her purse. "So, can we go? I have a date with Will Smith after all."

"Outch", Derek winced and pressed a hand over his heart, "and I really thought I was the reason you agreed to come with me."

"Let's say you're a very nice bonus." she winked at him and linked arms with him letting him lead her out to his car.

"I see" Derek sighed a bit theatrically, "I don't have a chance against Will Smith."

"Aw, poor baby." Penelope patted his cheek and grinned. "You can try spoiling me senseless and I might change my mind about YOU being the bonus."

Chuckling Derek opened the door to the passenger's seat for her and when she got in he leaned forward and whispered: "I promise by the end of the day you'll have forgotten that Will Smith even exists."

A shiver ran down Penelope's spine making Derek grin proudly. Apparently, she wasn't as immune to his flirting skills as she always pretended to be.

Penelope's mood changed for the worse when they arrived at the movies. There were only dual seats – meaning that except for Derek and her there were only couples. This was going to be embarrassing.

But much to Penelope's surprise – and to her relief – the first thing Derek did when they took their seats was placing his arm around her shoulders and drawing her to his chest. And for the next one and a half hours Penelope was in heaven.

Unfortunately, the movie eventually ended. Sighing discontentedly Penelope rose from her very comfortable position to look up into Derek's smirking face.

"So, baby girl, how did you like your gift – except for the fact that I'm not Will Smith." he teased and waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Oh, well, you're a very close second after all." she grinned back at him.

"Second?" Derek raised his eyebrows.

Penelope shrugged nonchalantly as she got up: "On my list of the sexiest chocolate gods alive." She winked at him and then turned to leave.

"Wait!" Derek jumped up and caught up with her quickly. "You mean, I'm only second?"

She turned around and patted his cheek: "Honey, the last thing you need is more self-confidence."

"Okay, I admit defeat." he chuckled and put his arm around her shoulders. "So, how about the dinner I still owe you?"

"As much as I'd love to, I fear after all the popcorn I had during the past two hours I won't get anything down." Penelope sighed.

"Okay, then we'll start with drinks then a dinner somewhere else and THEN a dinner at my place – or yours if you like that better." Derek shrugged. "No need to rush things anyways."

She turned to frown at him: "Rush things?"

Derek just answered that with a wide grin as he led her out of the movie theater and into a nearby bar.


	3. A rude surprise

**Title: **A rude surprise

**Fandom:** Criminal Minds

**Pairing:** Morgan/Garcia

**Prompt for ****10 dates:** #7 Disappointment

**Rating:** Maybe T? Just to be sure.

**Disclaimer:** Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.

**Summary:** Part 3/? of the 'Long way' series.

**warnings:** none

**AN:** _Um… hi?! *waves* I'm Caro aka little_profiler and you might have heard of me before…_

_No, seriously. Life got in the way just doesn't entirely express it this time. It's a long, long story and I really should write a book about it. LOL_

_But back on track! We left our heroes after Derek realized that he's in love with Penelope and asked her to the movies for a first attempt of a 'date'. And now he asked her out for some drinks and you are now invited to read how it goes._

_Thanks for hanging in there with me. I'm not inactive even though LJ said something different lately. ;) And a special thanks to jennysf for beta-reading this one._

_Caro_

"So… this is where you usually pick up girls, huh?!" Penelope commented as she looked around the bar they'd just entered. At least half of the women there were already drooling over Derek. The other half certainly just hadn't noticed him yet.

"No," Derek chuckled as he lead her to one of the tables. "Actually, I come here because the beer's really great and the meals they serve are even better."

"Uh huh, sure," she rolled her eyes. "And the waitresses in the dresses that are way too small for their… advantages have nothing to do with it."

"Waitresses?" Derek asked innocently, and then grinned when Penelope rolled her eyes again. "Okay, so I guess I shouldn't ask one of them over here and order drinks…"

"Why don't you order me a drink so that you can go and do your thing on the dance floor?" Penelope shot back. "I'm sure there're at least twenty women in here who'll gladly take your mind off of things."

"What about the other ten women?" he pouted as he looked around to estimate the number of women in the bar.

"They're either blind, gay or just stupid," she shrugged. Then she grinned mischievously and added, "Or they're dating Will Smith."

"All of them?" Derek raised his eyebrows at her.

"Why not? Are you jealous because Will Smith could have ten women at once if he wanted to? So what? You still have the other twenty." Penelope grinned at him.

"Maybe I only want one of them," Derek mumbled before he frowned at Penelope. He wondered if he should just ask her out directly already. She didn't consider going with him to the movies a date, and she probably wouldn't consider having dinner with him a date either if he didn't ask her directly.

Derek wasn't sure if it was safe to ask her out yet. She'd blown him off the last time. Okay, that had been about a year ago, but back then, her reasons had been that she thought he only asked her to apologize and prove that she was wrong about him. She probably still thought that he wouldn't cross a crowded room to hit on her.

The waitress interrupted Derek's thoughts. The flirting tone in her voice and the fact that she was only staring at him, completely ignoring Penelope, escaped his notice. "Hi, what can I get you?"

Penelope rolled her eyes. It was almost pathetic how obvious she was.

"I'll take a beer," Derek said, his eyes focused on Penelope. "Baby girl?"

"Same for me," she replied, and did her best to give the girl a smile.

The waitress frowned, obviously annoyed that Penelope was getting the attention she was longing for. "I'll be right back," she mumbled before stomping away.

"And Derek Morgan breaks another heart," Penelope commented.

Derek was startled at the sound of his name. "Huh?"

Raising both her eyebrows at him, Penelope pointed into the direction the waitress had just taken. "The girl was practically already in your bed and you didn't even… What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I… um… was distracted," he retorted with a frown.

"Uh huh," she commented, shaking her head in amusement. This was strange, even for Derek. Or especially for Derek, she wasn't sure which.

Derek decided that it was probably best to go for it. He took a deep breath to collect some courage, then opened his mouth to finally ask Penelope out – officially.

He was interrupted when, first, Penelope's chin dropped, then her brows met in an angry frown and finally she mumbled, "Things are just getting better."

Derek turned around to follow Penelope's eyes and saw the tall man who had just entered the bar with a blond, scantily dressed woman by his side. "Damn it," Derek whispered.

The furrows on Penelope's forehead became deeper and she turned her attention back to Derek. "What was that?"

Derek bit his lip.

"You know him?!" It took Penelope all her self discipline not to yell at him.

"Well, yeah…" Derek reluctantly admitted.

Penelope crossed her arms in front of her ample chest: "And you know that I had a date with him tonight."

Derek swallowed. Firstly because he felt caught and secondly because Penelope's movement paired with the fact that she was wearing a pretty low-cut top made him want to let his eyes drop just a little. "Well, I… um… do you know that he works in the bureau?"

"Yes." she replied raising her eyebrow eyeing Derek expectantly.

He sighed and admitted defeat. "I heard him talk to his co-workers about you and the things he said…" Derek clenched his fist.

Derek could see the disappointment and the anger written all over her face. "And that's why you asked me to come with you to the premiere tonight."

"No." he defended himself. "That's not true. I've planned on taking you to this movie since I heard about it being released. Then I heard about your plans for this night from JJ and at first I thought I shouldn't ask you if you already had a date but then I heard them talk and…"

Penelope snorted: "This is the most stupid explanation I've ever heard."

"It's true." Derek insisted.

Taking a deep breath to calm down a little Penelope leaned forward. "Look. It's nice that you feel so… responsible for me, but you aren't. I don't need a pity date especially not with you. I don't need you to take me out because you think the date I have isn't good enough for me. Hell, I don't need you to take me out at all."

Angrily she grabbed her purse and wanted to leave. But then she turned back to Derek. "And least of all I need you to spoil my date because the guy just wants to lay me." When she saw the surprised look on his face she snorted again: "How do I know? Well, maybe that was exactly what I wanted." That being said she stormed out of the bar.

"Baby girl!" Derek called after her and swore silently as he placed a ten dollar bill on the table and ran out as well. "Penelope, please!"

"Leave me alone." she mumbled not slowing down or even turning to him.

"Baby girl." he tried again.

"And don't baby girl me!" Penelope shouted.

"Wait!" it didn't take Derek too much effort to catch up with her considering the fact that he ran several miles a day. "Let me at least take you home!"

"I don't need you to be my watchdog." she grumbled and turned to him. "Now leave me ALONE!"

Derek was taken aback by her harsh reaction. He'd only seen her act like that once towards him when they'd also been fighting about one of her dates. And what had happened afterwards had told him enough to head for his car and follow her.

Penelope still grumbled to herself about Derek's over-protectiveness when she turned into the small alley that was a short cut to her apartment. She didn't even see the movement next to her until somebody blocked her way.

She jumped and looked up into the grinning face. What was that supposed to be? Mugging? Penelope took a deep breath and smiled slightly: "Would you excuse me?"

"No." he said determined and threatening but still grinning as he took a step to the right when Penelope tried to get past him.

Her heart started racing. She so should have gone with Derek! Why the hell didn't she learn from past mistakes?! "Well, okay." she shrugged trying to sound unimpressed. "We can also wait for my fiancée together."

"Nice try, little lady." the man said and the expression on his face changed as he grabbed her and pushed her with her face first against the wall. Only a second later she could feel his hands all over her body. "No." she whispered at the moment not able to speak any louder and tried to break free from the man. But he was much stronger than she was.

He laughed at her desperate attempt to fight him as he tore her panties apart and pushed up her skirt. He leaned forward and whispered into her ear: "You know, I like it when they fight back."

Penelope screamed.


	4. Learning the hard way

**Title: **Learning the hard way

**Fandom:** Criminal Minds

**Pairing:** Morgan/Garcia

**Prompt for ****10 dates:** #3 School

**Rating:** T

**Disclaimer:** Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.

**Summary:** Part 4/? of the 'Long way' series.

**warnings:** none

**AN:** _Thank you once again for so patiently waiting for this update. Here you go, finally. I know, three and a half months is a long time._

_So let's try and remember. When we last saw our heroes… :) During a case, Derek realizes that he is in love with Penelope. He makes a plan on how to win her heart. He takes her to the movies and drinking. Alas, things don't go as Derek has planned them – and Penelope is attacked at night in an alley by a man who wants to rape her…_

_Now, here's what will happen next. As usual lately, I was in a dark mood, so it's a rather dark chapter, I guess._

Derek slowly drove his SUV down the street. His window was rolled down so he could hear her, maybe even see her, more easily. He passed the small alley he wished she hadn't taken, but he knew her well enough to take a closer look.

He abruptly brought his vehicle to a halt. He couldn't believe his eyes at first. There was a tall guy in a leather jacket pressing a woman, who closely resembled Penelope, against the wall. Then Derek heard her scream.

Penelope couldn't believe this was happening. It couldn't be. Not to her. This just couldn't be true. One last time, Penelope tried to fight her attacker, but it was pointless. Maybe she should have tried to brace herself for what was about to come, but she couldn't. She tried to think of something else, tried to think herself to another place far away from this alley and this man and the things he wanted to do to her.

She felt a jerk – and then nothing. Nobody pressed her against the wall anymore. The hands were gone; the feel of his disgusting body against hers gone as well. She turned around carefully. It took her a moment to interpret the scene in front of her correctly, and make out what the heap of clothes and human limbs really was.

The man who had attacked her was laying on his back, not moving much at all. Derek was half kneeling, half laying over him. He was letting his fists tell the man what it meant to mess with his Baby Girl. Blood was sprinkling his clothes.

Her first impulse was to sneak away and run home as fast as she could, but she couldn't move. Her eyes refused to let go of the scene in front of her. She sniffled as she watched.

Derek was beside himself with anger, and for the first time in a long time he could remember, he really wanted to kill someone. Well, he'd thought about killing one or two unsubs during their interrogations, but he'd never actually been so close to doing it. Then he heard Penelope make a quite noise next to them.

Derek immediately let go of the now unconscious man. He stood up, examining the results of his actions for a second, with a mixture of fear and disbelief, before he turned to Penelope.

She was still standing against the wall, and was shaking so badly that she could barely hold together the remains of her top.

With one step, Derek closed the distance between them and stopped right in front of her. He wanted to pull her into his arms, but didn't dare. Not after what had just happened. "Baby?" he whispered, more than spoke aloud.

Her lower lip trembled, and she felt her knees going week. She gave in and let herself sink against Derek's chest. She sobbed when he wrapped his arms around her. Those strong arms, where she felt safe and at ease.

"Let's get you home," Derek whispered as he put his jacket around her shoulders. He gently led her back to his SUV.

Penelope didn't answer. She just followed him, even let him fasten the seat belt for her. She didn't hear him call the police and tell them about a man who had tried to rape her. Nor did she notice that he wasn't driving to her place.

Derek pulled into the parking lot and turned off the engine. He waited a second, his head hanging in shame. He knew he needed to do this before he could let her get out of the car and into the bath she certainly needed.

"Baby Girl, did he… rape you?" She shook her head. "You know that if he did and you want to press charges…"

"It was close," she interrupted him.

_Too close_, Derek thought. He sighed and got out.

The walk up to his door was silent. Penelope didn't complain about the fact that this wasn't her place, nor did she ask him about it.

Clooney greeted them exuberantly, and Penelope petted him absentmindedly while she remained standing in Derek's corridor. She didn't want to move any closer, and she definitely didn't want to sit down. Derek would have noticed that some parts of her clothes were missing.

"I'll run you a bath," Derek offered, Penelope's obvious discomfort not escaping his notice. He figured she needed something to wear, so he searched his wardrobe for something that would at least be somewhat suitable for her.

Ten minutes later, Penelope let herself sink into Derek's huge bathtub. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. This was exactly what she'd needed, and even if it couldn't really make the feeling this guy's hands had left on her body go away, it still made her feel better.

When the water turned cold, Penelope unwillingly got out of the bathtub and dried herself off. It was odd to put Derek's clothes on, especially his tight boxers, but it was much better than feeling so… exposed and vulnerable.

Carefully, Penelope stepped out of the bathroom and walked into Derek's living room. It felt strange to be here after everything that had happened – almost as strange as the feeling she'd had at the hospital after Battle had shot her.

"Hey," Derek greeted, offering her a seat on his couch. "You want something to drink?"

"Yeah," she nodded as she sat down. "Something strong, please."

Derek sighed as he poured them each a Scotch. He'd pictured this evening so very differently. He'd wanted Penelope to have a good time, wanted to take her to the dance floor and make her enjoy a special evening so she'd feel like they were on a date – then he could ask her out on a real date. He so hadn't pictured her going through what had happened today. When he'd pictured having a few drinks with his girl tonight, he hadn't thought of something like this.

Penelope downed the drink the moment she took it from Derek, and he silently refilled her glass twice before he sat back down next to her. The worry was clearly written all over his face as he watched her downing drink after drink.

Turning the now empty glass in her hands, Penelope quietly said, "For a moment, I thought you were going to kill him."

Derek took a deep breath. "For a moment, so did I."

"Can you… teach me?" she asked.

Frowning, Derek turned to look at the woman next to him. "Teach you what?"

"How to… defend myself," she replied voicelessly. "Just… in case."

Derek took her shaking hand in his and nodded. "Of course."

That night, when Derek took her to bed and noticed her shivering, he wordlessly crawled underneath the blanket next to her and wrapped his arms tightly around her. It was a good thing they had the next three days off. Penelope could use that time to start recovering from what had happened to her.

She stayed at Derek's place for a few days. They started their lessons in self-defense, spent almost every minute of the following days with each other, and even shared the bed at night; Derek had definitely enjoyed that fact.

He still didn't dare ask Penelope out though, not after what had happened to her. When he tried to raise the subject of dating, all Penelope said was that she was fed up with that for the time being.

Penelope had practically moved in with him. It almost felt like they already were an item – apart from the fact that they hadn't been on a single official date together. Unfortunately, Derek wasn't quite sure how to ask her anymore.


	5. Anguish

**Title: **Anguish

**Fandom:** Criminal Minds

**Pairing:** Morgan/Garcia

**Prompt for ****10 dates:** #6 Phone

**Rating:** T

**Disclaimer:** Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.

**Summary:** Part 5/? of the 'Long way' series. Garcia has some trouble dealing with a case.

**warnings:** none

Penelope stopped the video, took off her glasses, and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She simply couldn't watch this any longer. It wasn't that she hadn't seen something like that before. In fact, she had seen much worse over the years, and sometimes it was only hard medication that let her sleep at night.

But why did her first case back at work have to be a serial rapist? Why did this guy have to attack his victims in a dark alley much like the one she had used that fateful night? The guy had left evidence, lots of it, but nothing had led them anywhere so far. Neither his fingerprints nor his DNA were in the database.

So the hottest scent they had was a video from the last rape. For hours, Penelope had watched the young woman being attacked, overpowered, and humiliated by this guy. Her screams were burned into Penelope's memory, and the longer Penelope watched the video, the more she felt like Derek hadn't been there in time to rescue her.

She felt sick, she felt dirty, and she didn't feel safe, not even in this building. She knew she was doing pretty good with her lessons in self defense, and there were numerous guards, as well as security cameras almost everywhere. There was no safer place than her bunker, but at the moment, there certainly was no place in the world where she would have felt safe.

Penelope took her phone and was about to hit speed dial. Sighing, she put it away. Of course, she'd have felt much better if Derek had told her she was safe here. She would believe him. The sound of his voice alone made her feel better, safer, but he was busy working a case she was absolutely no help in solving.

The ringing of her phone made her jump slightly. She looked at the caller ID and was sure Derek was able to read her mind, as if they were connected in some supernatural way. Smiling at the idea, she answered the call. "Speak, mere mortal!"

"Hey, goddess." She could hear the grin on his face. "Will you do me a favor, or do I have to kiss your feet first?"

"Hm, nice image," she purred, "but I think I'm gonna grant you one wish today – for free."

"Then I wish for you to go out with me," he told her frankly. "I'm tired of settling for dates over the phone."

"I told you before you can't consider this a real date," she said, rolling her eyes.

"That's why I'm asking for a real one," he replied. "Dinner, as soon as this case is over."

"Wish granted," Penelope smiled. "Sounds like a plan to me, but that wasn't why you called me, was it?" Penelope knew the answer, but she was more than grateful for the diversion.

"I need you to run a background check on a Tiffany Melrose," he told her, his voice serious again.

Penelope started to type the name, and then stopped. "New victim?"

Derek sighed. "I'm afraid so."

"Please, tell me there's no new security footage." Penelope was unable to keep the disgust and the hurt out of her voice.

"Are you okay, honey?" Derek asked worriedly.

She sighed and considered lying to him, but then decided against it. "No."

Derek swore silently. He could hear the pain in her voice. They should have told Hotch. She shouldn't be working this case and having to watch the video. He ran a hand over his face. "Baby, if you need a break…"

"I'll be fine," she quickly interrupted him, knowing he would tell Hotch if he had any suspicion she couldn't deal with this. "I just… I don't know."

He waited a few seconds for her to finish her thoughts, but soon realized she didn't dare. "You just what?" he pressed her.

"It's stupid, I know." Penelope sighed and hesitated again before she told him, "I don't feel safe anymore, not even here."

Derek frowned. She'd felt safe with him, safer after every lesson he had taught her. "Would you rather work from home?"

"No," she sighed again. "This building is safer, right?"

He could practically hear her shiver, and that was when he made his decision.

"Is that Garcia on the phone?" Penelope heard Hotch's voice in the background.

"I'll call you back when I have the information on Tiffany," she quickly told Derek and hung up. She so didn't want her boss to notice how much this case was bothering her, and she knew he would.

She worked as long on the background check of Tiffany Melrose as she could, basically to avoid having to continue working with the footage. She knew she identified too much with the victims – but considering what had happened to her, she had no idea how not to.

It was already half past two in the morning when Penelope finally shut her computers down. Tiredly, she wiped her eyes. This would be just another sleepless night. Sure, her pills helped her fall asleep, but they couldn't keep the nightmares away.

Sighing, Penelope closed the door to her office and walked through the empty hallway. She'd been sleeping on the couch in Hotch's office for almost a week now. Luckily, she always had her ready back in Esther's trunk in case she needed to leave with the team, and there were showers in the ladies restroom.

Hotch would kill her if he knew she was spending her nights at the bureau. Not because he'd be angry she'd used his couch, but because he'd be angry she hadn't slept in a real bed. But she simply couldn't go home. She barely found some sleep here, in one of the safest buildings in the world.

Penelope opened the book she'd brought with her to take her mind off things a little before she tried to sleep. Not that it helped a lot, but it was still better than going to bed right after she'd watched a woman being raped.

When she finally closed her eyes, the sun was already rising outside.

She saw the girl being attacked in the alley. Only this time, it wasn't in the footage on her computer screen. She was there, in the alley, watching the scene. Then suddenly, the guy was above her, and…

"Penelope…" She heard the man's voice call her name, and felt his hands grabbing her shoulders.

"No!" she begged him. "Please, don't!"

"Penelope!" the voice was louder now, and it sounded familiar. Somebody shook her.

When she opened her eyes, she looked right into Derek's worried face. "Hey," she greeted sleepily and sat up. Then she stared at him, a little puzzled, as her mind started to work clearly again. "You're back already? Did you catch the guy?"

"No, Sweetness, the others are still in Arizona," he admitted.

"Then… what are you doing here?"

Derek shrugged. "They can handle the rest of the case without me, but maybe I can help you with the footage."

"You didn't come back early because of me, did you?" Penelope frowned at him.

Reaching out to put a strand of hair behind her ear, Derek replied, "No, Baby Girl, it's all about work, sorry."

She leaned into the soft touch of his hand and immediately felt better. For a moment, she allowed herself to enjoy the warmth radiating from his palm that softly cupped her cheek. Then Penelope opened her eyes again. "Well, then, let's boot up the computers and get to work."

"Easy, Princess!" Derek told her, and kept her from standing up. "First, we're gonna go and have a nice breakfast together. Then I'll take you home, where you will get some much needed sleep. Don't even think about arguing with me!"

"But…" she tried to protest.

"Ah!" Derek put a finger over her mouth to interrupt her. "What did I tell you about the arguing part? You do as I say now, period."

"Okay, okay." she rolled her eyes. Of course, she'd never admit she was glad to be away from the footage for a few more hours.

"Good girl." He smiled at her, and then leaned up to softly peck her lips. "Now, come on, we have a date."

She was unable to say anything, when Derek pulled her to her feet and towards the elevators. Her lips were prickling from the feeling of his. Of course, it hadn't been a real kiss…

Oh, but she wanted a real kiss. She needed a real kiss! After everything she'd had to watch during the past few days, after all the nightmares, she needed some warmth, some caress, some human touch to make her feel better. Maybe she could sneak away later, get drunk, and just try and hook it up with someone.

Sure, she usually didn't do that kind of thing; but did that mean that she wasn't allowed to feel like doing it from time to time? Did it make her any less of a person that she sometimes couldn't stand what she had to face every day? That it made her start to doubt that despite all the evil, there also was good in the world?

"Are you okay, baby?" he asked while they were waiting for the elevator.

"You know, sometimes I really wonder why I took this job." she replied, and a tear escaped the corner of her eyes.

Derek reached out to cup her cheek and brushed the tear away with his thumb. "Maybe you should run another background check on the victims tomorrow and let me worry about the footage."

Penelope smiled weakly. "You really think Hotch would approve?"

"Who cares?" Derek shrugged. "As long as it makes you feel better."

Instead of answering, Penelope closed her eyes and leaned into the touch of his hand. The fact that he was here, that he flew all the way back to Quantico just to comfort her, already made her feel better.

"Hey," Derek softly said, regaining her attention, "I'd do anything for you, you know that, right?"

"Yeah," she assured.

_But I doubt you'd do what I really need right now._


	6. Sorrow

**Title: **Sorrow

**Fandom:** Criminal Minds

**Pairing:** Morgan/Garcia

**Prompt for ****10 dates:** #4 Feelings

**Rating:** T for content (just to be sure)

**Disclaimer:** Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.

**Summary:** Part 6/10 of 'The long way'-series.

**warnings:** none

**AN:** _Hey there, I know many of you are waiting for an update of another story, but I'm kinda stuck with it. :/ Besides, my life just sucks big time at the moment. But that's a different story. Maybe next time I'll insert a suspect who kills people who really pissed her off – and, of course, gets away with it. LOL_

_Anyway, thank you to Jenny for beta-reading faster than I can write. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, or put this story on any alert/favorite list. I'm glad many people seem to be enjoying this story. I can't tell you what this means to me._

_Of course, writing is a lot of fun and I really enjoy it. But sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't use my energy for different things – and sometimes my muse just wants to run from my stupid life and leaves me alone. These are the times your reviews remind me that I'm not only writing for myself and that there are people who would really miss my stories. That makes me feel useful, in a way – and my muse usually returns remorsefully. :) So, thank you, and enjoy!_

Penelope sighed as she followed Derek into the small diner. He was so sweet and caring. If only she could find a guy like him for tonight. The last thing she needed was some selfish idiot. Maybe she should have stayed with Kevin. Sure, he wasn't the best boyfriend she could think of. In fact, he could be really annoying, but he was a good guy.

"Are you okay?" Derek's worried voice interrupted her thoughts.

Penelope looked at him and tried to give him a smile. "Sure."

Not knowing what to say to really comfort her, Derek reached over the table and took her hands in his. His action was rewarded with a smile, which only let Derek's worry grow. It was the saddest smile he'd ever seen. What she'd had to watch all over again these past few days had left marks, and Derek could see them, even though she was trying her best to hide them.

This had all gone so wrong. The drinks he'd planned on having with her had been them trying to forget the events of the evening. Now, their supposed to be first date was having breakfast together, trying to forget about a case that was about to tear Penelope apart.

Why did everything have to go wrong? Why was he unable to get it right with her? He'd never had any problem with women. But after he'd realized that he was in love with her, all his efforts to woo her had gone completely wrong.

"You know I… I'm having nightmares," Penelope admitted. She wasn't even sure why she was telling him this. "I keep dreaming about… that guy. In my dreams, I'm in the alley. Sometimes I just watch what he does to the girls, but most of the time… I'm the victim."

Derek squeezed her hands, but didn't say anything in return.

"I know I shouldn't identify with the victims, but… I can't help it. I am a victim, after all, aren't I?" she whispered.

"No, you're not," Derek objected. "The guy who attacked you has nothing to do with the case we're working. The guy who attacked you is behind bars. He could be connected to seven cases of rape in D.C. You've learned how to defend yourself, and I'll do my best to be there and protect you."

"I know." She smiled and took a deep breath. She was shivering again, and she wasn't even sure why. It wasn't remarkably cold in here.

It didn't escape Derek's notice that this was already the third time Penelope rubbed her upper arms. He'd known it was bad, but… He knew she needed a day off, and he would make sure she got it.

"How long have you been sleeping at the office?" Derek wanted to know.

Penelope shrugged. "A couple of days."

"Since we started working the case?" He didn't really have to ask, because he already knew the answer.

"I… I just didn't feel safe going home on my own," she admitted. "I know it's stupid, and I'm sure it's gonna get better once this case is over."

"You should take it easy, sweetness." Derek knew exactly how she was feeling, and he knew cases like the one they were currently working weren't going to make it any better. "Maybe you should take a few days off."

"I can't, and you know that." Penelope sighed, and tiredly rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I just had three days off, and we're stuck with the case. I know this case is asking a lot from all of us, maybe especially from me this time, considering what happened. Still, I need to help catch the guy to feel safe again."

"I know," Derek nodded, "but one day off will certainly do you good. You need to put some daylight between you and this case."

"I can't," Penelope sighed again. "Hotch would never approve that."

"He will." Derek would make him approve it, anyway. "You need a day off, you get it. That's how we make sure cases aren't tearing us apart."

They ate their breakfast mostly in silence, but Derek watched Penelope rubbing her upper arms every now and then. He could tell that her nerves were raw.

At his apartment, he called Hotch while Penelope was in the shower. Their boss already knew Penelope was taking this case really hard, otherwise he'd never have let Derek fly back to Quantico before it was over. It wasn't hard to convince him they needed a day off.

"Anything else you want to tell me?" Hotch asked after listening to Morgan explain how hard Garcia was taking the case.

"No," he sighed, "I just thought… if Penelope could have one day off, she might be able to look at the footage more clearly and be a bigger help."

"I agree." Hotch's voice was unusually soft. "Take care of her, Morgan."

"I will," he promised and hung up. _If only she lets me._

"How's the case going?" Penelope wanted to know as she came back from the bathroom.

"We won't worry about that for a while," Derek replied. "We have tomorrow off."

"I'd much rather try and find a connection between the victims, or something to help us catch this dirtbag."

"No way, Baby Girl," Derek grinned at her. "I'm gonna take you out to dinner tonight, then lunch tomorrow, and a movie afterwards, but first of all, we'll get you to sleep."

"I don't feel like sleeping," she lied. It wasn't hard to tell from her appearance that she hadn't slept much in a couple of days.

"Rubbish." Derek put her off, grabbed her hand, and pulled her towards his guest room. "You'll sleep tonight. That's an order!"

"Derek…" she tried, but knew it was pointless. She really needed to sleep, but she knew the nightmares were going to return.

He pushed the blanket back and made her lay down. "I can tell you a story if you like," he quipped as he tucked her in.

"I… I can't sleep," she finally told him.

"Because of the nightmares?" Derek softly asked.

She just nodded and looked down at her hands.

Derek bit his lip as he thought about her words. He knew a way to chase the nightmares away, but he wasn't sure she'd let him hold her.

"Don't worry about them," he finally said, and crawled underneath the blanket next to her, gently pulling her into his arms. "I'm gonna keep them away, I promise."

Penelope snuggled up close against him. She needed the closeness, the human contact. Resting her head on his chest, she closed her eyes – and for the first time, she didn't see the picture of this alley and the victims in front of her.

"Why did you come back from Arizona early?" she asked sleepily.

Smiling, Derek kissed the top of her head. "Because I missed you, sweetness. Isn't that reason enough?"

"Liar," she mumbled. "Thank you."

"I'm here, baby," he whispered. "Whenever you need me."

"I know," she smiled, and gave in to a peaceful and dreamless sleep.


	7. Change

**Title: **Change

**Fandom:** Criminal Minds

**Pairing:** Morgan/Garcia

**Prompt for ****10 dates:** #10 Sex

**Rating:** T

**Disclaimer:** Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.

**Summary:** Part 7/10 of the "Long way"-series. Well, the prompt is a good clue. ;)

**warnings:** none

**AN:** _Again, it's amazing how many reviews I received on the stories I updated, sometimes even stories I had almost forgotten about. I'm thankful and impressed and honored, all at once. I'm sorry if I didn't reply all of you, your comments are very much appreciated!_

_Once again, my life got in the way and kept me from updating earlier, but this time in a good way.__ That's a different story, though. Now, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter._

"So… erm… How about a change of location?" the man asked in a low voice. He was about her age, tall, not exactly what people called handsome, but in a way good-looking. More importantly, he seemed to be a nice guy.

He hadn't even dared to approach her first. He'd bought her a drink, and then waited for her to come over and approach him.

She'd let him dangle for a while, though. First of all, she didn't want to give him the impression that she was an easy lay – even though today, she totally was. She also wanted to make sure he really was interested, even though she didn't really want more than tonight.

"What exactly do you have in mind?" she asked in a flirty tone.

"I don't know, something that's… quieter," he said, shrugging.

Penelope almost couldn't repress a giggle. He was nervous, so he certainly didn't do this very often, either.

"Quieter?" She raised an eyebrow at him, giving him the most innocent look she could manage.

"How about… my place?" he croaked.

"Oh, so you think I'm an easy lay?" She just couldn't resist torturing him a little. He was too cute when he was nervous.

"N… no, I…" he stuttered, "I just thought… I really like you, and I thought we could… get to know each other… a little."

"Oh," she nodded. "You want to show me your etchings?"

He smirked a little, and his cheeks turned red. In a way, he reminded Penelope of Reid. "Yeah, something like that," he mumbled.

For a moment, she remained silent, then she smiled at him. "Okay, why not."

"Really?" he burst out.

Penelope couldn't help but laugh. "This is the first time you've picked up a girl at a bar, right?"

"Yeah," he admitted, and then laughed himself. "I… Actually, I came here to get really drunk, you know. I didn't even plan on talking to anyone, but then you came in, and… I just had to approach you."

"You know, that certainly is the sweetest thing I've ever heard." Penelope smiled and leaned a bit closer.

"What about you?" the man asked. "I mean, have you… done that before?"

"It's a shame, but I have to admit that actually, I have, and it was a complete disaster," Penelope chuckled.

"But you want to give it another try?" He bit his lip. What a stupid question!

Penelope smiled seductively and shrugged. "Well, I knew it was going to be a disaster beforehand, so I certainly didn't deserve better. You are different."

He smiled a little sheepishly and sipped at his drink.

Penelope leaned closer again, offering a good view at her advantages. "So, how about your etchings, huh?"

He choked on his drink, making Penelope giggle, and then quickly nodded and paid their drinks. Penelope could tell he was pretty nervous, when he led her to his car and fumbled with the keys.

"Hey, you!" Penelope swore silently at the sound of the angry voice behind them. "Leave my girl alone!"

The man winced and turned around, defensively raising his hands. "I swear, I had no idea she was taken."

"I'm not," Penelope grunted. "That's just my watchdog."

"She's coming with me," Derek snarled, crossing his arms in front of his muscular chest.

"What gives you the permission to tell me what to do and where to go?" Penelope replied, imitating his movement.

"I'm more sober than you, I'm stronger than you, and I'm the guy with the gun," he shrugged.

At the word gun, the man jumped into his car and quickly drove off.

"Thank you," Penelope shouted- "You just ruined my evening."

"Get in!" Derek demanded, pointing towards his SUV.

She'd taken a cab to the bar, and she knew Derek would make her get into his car anyways, so she capitulated.

The drive to his place was silent and tense. Derek could feel she was ready to explode, but he knew she would be thankful in the morning.

"Why can't you just leave me alone for a single evening?" Penelope pretty much shouted at him, once he had closed the door to his apartment behind them.

"You're drunk," he replied calmly. "Let's discuss this tomorrow."

"I'm sober enough to hit you, and I have many reasons to do so." She raised her hand to emphasize her words.

"Because I saved you from a guy who just wanted to fuck you?" he shouted back.

"Oh, you saved me!" she repeated theatrically. "Have you considered that maybe that was _exactly_ what I wanted?"

He blinked at her in confusion.

"What?" Penelope snorted. "If you pull eight girls a week, you're a hero, and if I do the same, I'm a slut? You know what? Fuck you and your double standards!" She stormed through the corridor towards the door to Derek's guest room.

He grabbed her arm to stop her. When Penelope started to punch his arm in an attempt to break free, he pushed her against the wall of the corridor. "I just don't want you to get hurt, okay? You would have regretted it in the morning."

"I don't need you to protect me!" she grunted, and tried to break free. She knew he was right. After what happened with Battle, she never wanted to take the risk of hooking up with a stranger again, and she wouldn't have done it if this case hadn't made her feel so unhuman.

"I know how you're feeling," he said in a low voice, searching her eyes with his. "Trust me, I do. I understand why you… need someone, but we both know you're gonna feel even worse in the morning. I can't let that happen. I can't just let you hook up with someone you don't even know."

"You don't know what I need," she whispered. Derek's body so close to hers was starting to cloud her senses. God, he was hot!

"I do," Derek replied in a low voice, leaning closer. "I know you need someone, but you don't need to take a complete stranger. I'm right here, Baby Girl."

"Wh… What?" she panted.

Derek leaned closer, his lips almost touching hers. "I'm here if you need someone," he repeated.

She couldn't say anything; she could hardly even think with him so close to her. All she wanted was to cross the tiny distance between them and get the kiss she'd been longing for since the day they met.

A wave of desire washed through her body, making her tremble, and Penelope's eyes fluttered shut. She licked her lips in anticipation.

Smiling, Derek leaned in to let his lips touch hers. She was sweet, and her lips were incredibly soft. His heart skipped a beat when she opened her mouth to kiss him back.

Neither of them really remembered how they made it into his bedroom. Clothes piled the floor, their lips only breaking contact when Penelope hastily pulled his shirt over his head. This was a dream. It had to be. It was much too good; it felt like it was the first time someone had ever touched her. Everything was new, exciting, and so perfect.

Derek was sweet and caring and soft and passionate. Penelope was sure her heart was going to burst with bliss every moment. _Finally._ Finally, after all these years of flirting and teasing and dancing around each other, her wildest dream was coming true. Derek Morgan made love to her, and it was better than she'd ever imagined it to be.

The only flaw was that she knew this wasn't going to last. It was a one-off. Only, she wasn't sure she could ever go back to where they had been after tonight. But Derek wasn't the relationship kind of guy, and she knew that.

Derek wrapped his arms around her and pulled her as close as humanly possible. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so happy. He wasn't even sure he'd ever been _this_ happy before. Nothing he had ever experienced had been anywhere near this night. All the nights he had spent with other girls, all the nice adventures he'd liked to remember from time to time had become meaningless.

He was home. There was no way he was ever going to let go of his baby girl again. Smiling, he inhaled her scent and closed his eyes. For the first time since he could remember, he fell asleep happily and at peace. What he didn't know was that the next morning when he woke up, she would already been gone.


	8. Matchmaking

**Title: **Matchmaking

**Fandom:** Criminal Minds

**Pairing:** Morgan/Garcia

**Prompt for ****10 dates:** #9 Birthday

**Rating:** T

**Disclaimer:** Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.

**Summary:** Someone figured out that Morgan and Garcia are never gonna end up together unless they get a little help.

**warnings:** none

**AN:** _I know, it's been a ridiculously long time since I last updated anything. It's a shame, but my beta-reader (big thanks for her great work!) had sent me this story about a month ago or so – and I had completely forgotten about it until I finally decided to 'clean' my inbox a little and found it._

_Well, what can I say. Crazy doesn't even begin to describe how my life had been lately. Even the weekends were so full I just didn't find the time to write anything. Most of you know, I had lots of trouble lately. Well, some of it is fixed, but still I feel like everyone at work is just waiting for me to make a mistake so that they can say 'I knew she'd fail'. Anyway, that's a much too long story to explain in detail right now. Once everything's over, I'm definitely gonna write a story about it though – I feel like I have to deal with all that in some way, so why not my way. ;)_

_All that made my muse take another break. I needed one, too, so I figured it would be fair to leave her alone for a while. :) Seriously, for about four weeks I couldn't seem to get anything right, even if I found the time to __write anything. I was just not in the mood. I was so focused on all the trouble at work and trying so hard to do a good job… I guess that just wasn't the way. Now, I'm very comfortable with the fact that they all expect me to fail. At least I can't disappoint anyone but myself anymore. ;) And before I end up with burnout, I'm gonna spend more time writing and less time worrying. Sounds like a plan, huh?_

_Okay, this is not exactly a 'date' chapter. But this is exactly what Morgan and Garcia needed to fix the mess their little encounter in the last chapter had caused. Besides, there's talking about dates. That should be enough. ;)_

_Now, I hope you enjoy this. And I really hope I'm gonna be able to post at least one new chapter of all of my stories before I have to get back to work in about two weeks. But as always, I can't promise anything but doing my best. You want to read the best I can come up with, after all, don't you. At least, that's what I want to post. ;)_

_I love you all for the great support I received. Lots of wonderful reviews, good wishes and people caring about me and my situation, asking how I was. You have no idea how much that helps me pull through all this._

_Massive hugs!_

_Caro_

Penelope's first intention was to pretend she wasn't home when she heard someone knock on her door. Then she heard a stern voice calling out, "Garcia, I know you're there. Open the door! I need to talk to you."

She took a deep breath and then opened it to face Hotch. "Sir," she started, her voice shaking, "I… I can explain…"

"I'm sure you can." He frowned at her as he stepped inside and waited for her to close the door behind them. "What happened between you and Morgan? And I want the truth!"

"Sir?" She tried to sound as innocent as possible.

"Don't try to hedge!" Hotch was always getting straight to the point. "It's been almost four weeks now, Garcia. You never call Morgan when we're on a case, and when he calls you, you won't answer. Whenever we aren't on a case, you call in sick. What's going on?"

She opened her mouth to deny it, but then sighed and let herself sink down on the couch. "I… I don't know where to start."

"Something happened during this rape case in Arizona we had to handle. You were taking it very hard." He had figured out that much. What he didn't know was why.

Penelope looked at her hands and whispered, "About a week before you took off for the case, Derek and I were at the movies. We… We had a fight, I don't even remember what it was about, and I wanted to go home alone. I… I was attacked by a man who wanted to rape me."

Hotch drew in a breath.

"Thankfully, Derek was there to protect me, but it was… really close," she continued. "After that, I asked Derek to teach me how to defend myself, and I was doing pretty well. Then we had this case, and I had to watch these women being raped, and… I don't know."

"You felt with them," Hotch finished the sentence for her. "Garcia, why didn't you tell me? I would have taken you off the case."

"I know," she said, nodding, "but I didn't want that. I didn't want anyone to know, because I didn't want anyone's pity. I was fine… until I had to watch the video footage. I was starting to have nightmares after that, and didn't sleep all that well."

"That was why Derek asked me to fly back to Quantico early," he concluded.

Penelope nodded, and then added, "It was also why he asked you to give us a day off. He thought it might help me if I put some daylight between myself and the case, but it didn't, not really. I felt… I know I identified too much with the victims, but this time, I really felt like I was one of them. Derek did his best to help me cope, but… One night, I went to a bar to… to get drunk and… pick up someone."

Hotch saw her blush, even though she was trying to hide it from his view. "You tried to suppress your feelings for so long that you needed some human touch to remind you that you were still alive. We all know that feeling."

Penelope nodded, thankful that he understood. "I… had tried to deal with all the feelings this case was evoking in me. When I couldn't, I just repressed them, until I didn't really feel anything anymore. I just… wanted some tenderness."

"What happened?" he softly pressed her.

"Derek thwarted my plans," she answered with a sigh. "He went to the bar and made me go with him. We had a fight about that, and then… then…" She swallowed, not sure how to finish this sentence, how to tell her boss what had happened between her and Derek. Finally, she whispered, "He made love to me that night."

Her choice of words didn't escape Hotch's notice. "You have avoided him since." He didn't even need to wait for her answer; he already knew it. "Why?"

"Because… you know him," Penelope shrugged. There was a long pause, before she continued. "He's not the relationship kind of guy, and I'm not even his type. I don't know why he did that, but it didn't mean anything to him, at least not as much as…"

Hotch waited a few seconds for her to finish this sentence, but when she refused, he finished it. "As it meant to you."

She sniffled and wiped her face.

"You love him," Hotch stated.

"Is it really that obvious?" she whispered.

Hotch smirked a little. "I'm a profiler, after all."

Penelope smiled sadly and looked down. "I know I shouldn't feel this way about him."

"We can't change how we feel," Hotch told her with a shrug. "That's why the frat rules leave the possibility to… stretch them a little."

She didn't say anything in return, but Hotch could see her body tense.

"Have you considered that Derek was trying to ask you out?" He knew about the breakfast, and he'd heard parts of their conversation while Derek had been on the phone with her, just before Hotch had sent him back to Quantico.

Penelope stared at him and sniffled. "I… No. I mean, we went to the movies before. It was never… anything like a date."

"You know that Derek loves you, right?" He studied her face, waiting for a reaction.

"Yeah," she smiled sadly and said softly, "But not this way."

"Why don't you talk to him?" he suggested. "Try to figure out what that night meant to him. You might be surprised."

"There's… more," she reluctantly told him.

"Being?" Hotch asked.

Penelope took a deep breath, and then whispered, "I'm pregnant."

Hotch raised an eyebrow. That indeed was more than he'd expected. "Are you… sure?"

"I took five tests," she replied. "They were all positive. I… I still need the doctor's confirmation, though."

"Do you already have an appointment?" he wanted to know.

Penelope shook her head. "They told me to come by when I had time – they know my working hours – but I… I haven't dared so far."

"You'll go now!" Hotch decided and stood up. "Come on, I'll give you a ride. You shouldn't drive right now."

"But…" She wanted to object, even though she knew it was pointless.

"I'll send someone to pick you up. Now, come on!" he demanded.

Sighing, Penelope admitted defeat and let him take her to her doctor's.

"Wait here! I'll send someone to pick you up in about half an hour," Hotch told her when they had arrived at the large white building. "I need to get back to the Bureau."

Penelope just nodded and got out. She considered calling a cab as soon as Hotch took off, but he waited for her to enter the building before he did.

Hotch stomped into the bullpen and came to a halt in front of Derek's desk. Placing a piece of paper on the desk, he explained, "I talked to Garcia."

Derek swallowed and straightened in his seat.

"She told me everything," Hotch went on.

"Sir, I can explain…" Derek started.

Hotch immediately interrupted him. "Don't explain anything to me. I already understand. Explain it to Garcia! She's at the doctor's. Go pick her up!"

"Is she all right?" Derek asked, appalled.

"You'll find out." Hotch turned to leave, but then turned back to Derek and said, "I expect you to sort things out between the two of you."

"Yes, sir." Derek nodded and headed for the elevators.

"And Morgan," Hotch waited for him to turn to him, before he added, "Ask her out already!"


	9. Restart

**Title: **Reustart

**Fandom:** Criminal Minds

**Pairing:** Morgan/Garcia

**Prompt for ****10 dates:** #2 Gift

**Rating:** T

**Disclaimer:** Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.

**Summary:** Part 9/10 of the "Long Way"-series.

**warnings:** none

**AN:** _Once again, my muse and I have been working overtime. Sometimes, I really don't know where to take the energy from I would need to fulfill all the things people expect me to do._

_But that's a different story. Now back to this one. In the last chapter we found out Penelope was pregnant after having spent a night with Derek. Hotch tried to convince her to talk to him and made her go see a doctor. This is where this chapter continues._

_Can you believe it? Once again this story is almost finished. Only one chapter to go. When I started working on so many stories, I really never thought I'd be able to finish any of them. :)_

_Now, enjoy!_

"Are you sure about this?" Dr. Miller asked, eyeing Penelope warily.

"Yes," she sniffled. "I can't… I can't have the baby."

Sighing, Dr. Miller leaned forward over the table. "Maybe you should talk to the father first."

Penelope shook her head vigorously. "He doesn't want children. Besides, I'm not even sure we're… He doesn't want them."

Dr. Miller took a deep breath. "All right. Emma will give you an appointment for the abortion, then. She'll also print the prescription for the antinauseant."

"Thank you." Penelope nodded and wiped off her face.

Frowning at her, Dr. Miller asked once more, "Are you really sure you want to do this?"

"No," Penelope replied honestly, "but I know what I have to do. There is no other way."

Dr. Miller sighed. She couldn't escape the feeling that Penelope was forced into the abortion, certainly by the father of the child. She hated situations like this, but she also knew she couldn't do anything about it if Penelope wanted the abortion – or at least said she wanted it.

"Thank you again, doctor." Penelope took a deep breath before she left the room. It was bad enough that she'd cried so openly in front of her doctor; she didn't want the other patients in the waiting room have to witness this, too.

"Just a second, ma'am." The nurse smiled at her as Penelope stood in front of her desk.

She heard the door being opened, but didn't really care who was entering.

Derek looked across the waiting room, searching for his Baby Girl, and smiled nervously at the other patients staring at him as if he was from a different planet. Had they never seen a man searching for his girl in here?

He saw her figure at the desk and carefully stepped closer, clearing his throat.

Penelope froze at the sound behind her. She knew it was him. Had Hotch really sent _him_ to pick her up? Of course he had. That sounded like Hotch.

Slowly, Penelope turned around to face him.

"Hey," he greeted insecurely. "I… I'm here to pick you up. You all right?" He could tell she had been crying, and he didn't have to be a profiler to see that she wasn't exactly happy to see him there.

Penelope just nodded, not able to say anything in return. She felt on the verge of tears again.

The door opened, and Dr. Miller stuck her head out. "Penelope, I have a few more questions, before…" When she saw Derek, she stepped outside and eyed him. "I suppose you're the father," she snapped at him.

Penelope's shoulders sank, and she looked down. If only the floor could swallow her right away!

Derek stared back and forth between Penelope and the other woman. Had he understood that right? "Father?" he stuttered.

The expression on Dr. Miller's face suddenly softened. "Maybe you should come back inside, both of you."

Derek was still staring at Penelope in disbelief after Dr. Miller made them sit down in front of her desk. "You're pregnant?" he asked voicelessly.

Penelope nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked carefully.

She sniffled again. "I know I should have."

"No, sweetness, I'm not blaming you. I just want to understand." He kneeled down in front of her and took her hands in his, so that she looked at him. "Why did you refuse to talk to me after that night?"

"I… I just… I don't know," she mumbled. "I just… Why did you… spend that night with me at all?"

He frowned. "I… I don't understand…" Derek stuttered. What was she talking about?

"Well, I… I know you didn't want me to hook up with a… with him, but…" She looked down at her hands that were fidgeting with the rim of her blouse. "Did you really think I could just go back to where we were after that night?"

He blinked at her in confusion. Was she actually implying that she had been a one night stand? "Baby Girl, why do you think I invited you to the movies and for drinks that night?"

"Be… Because you didn't want me to go out with… this other guy," she sniffled.

"And why didn't I want that?" he pressed her.

"I don't know," she said with a shrug. "Because you protect me everyday of your life."

"And why would I do that?"

She shrugged again and searched his eyes for an answer.

Smiling, Derek reached up to brush a tear from her cheek. "Because I love you, silly girl. I was trying to tell you that the whole time. I was trying to ask you out, but it went wrong every time. I'm terrible with real dates, apparently."

"You… you really wanted to go out… with me?" she sniffled.

"Not wanted," Derek softly corrected her. "I still want to. I love you, Penelope, more than anything else in the world. I don't want to lose you, and I never wanted to hurt you. I didn't want to make you feel like you were just some other girl to me. I know I messed up, and I'm sorry for hurting you so much and making you feel like you have to avoid me.

"All I wanted was to take that pain away from you, and I just… I didn't know what else to do to help you. I thought you knew… how special you are to me. I hoped I could make you feel how much you mean to me."

"I… I thought you just… I don't know…" she mumbled and looked down. "God, we're really messed up, aren't we?"

"Yeah." Derek softly lifted her head so that she looked back up at him again. "I also never wanted to put you into a situation like this. I know it wasn't wise not to use protection. Trust me, this is so not how I planned this."

"You… you had a plan?" she sniffled.

"Yeah." Derek smiled at her. "I wanted to ask you out officially, take things slow, and make you feel that I really want to be with you, that I'm serious. Then, one day, when we both felt the time was right, I wanted to make love to you. I'm sorry I messed up that much."

"This wasn't your fault," she whispered. "At least not entirely."

Carefully, Derek leaned forward and stopped mere inches from her face. He searched her face for her permission, before leaning in and capturing her lips with his.

"How about we start all over again?" Derek suggested. "Let me take you out for breakfast now, make it a real date. I promise, this time, I'll get it right – well, except for the part where we take things slow."

"Yeah, it's a little late for that, right?" Penelope blushed slightly.

"Especially since I'm not gonna let our child be born out of wedlock," Derek said grinning.

Penelope's eyes almost popped out of her head. "What?" she exclaimed, her voice almost cracking. Had she understood his words right?

"I want this child," Derek told her. "Even if I'd thought we would wait a little longer with that, I still want to have a family with you, and if it's sooner rather than later, I'm absolutely fine with that, if you are. And I want you to marry me. If you want to, that is."

"Of course I do!" She sniffled, and new tears streamed down her face. "I love you." She leaned down to kiss him again.

"I guess that means the appointment for the abortion is cancelled," Dr. Miller interrupted them.

They both jumped apart, and Penelope blushed a deep shade of red. They had completely forgotten they weren't alone.

"Abortion?" Derek burst out, staring at Penelope in disbelief again. "I… I thought you always wanted children."

"I do, and I want this child," she quickly assured him. "You have no idea how often I dreamed of giving birth to your child. But I thought you didn't want it, so…"

"I do," Derek softly interrupted her. "I do want our child, and I want you. Don't you ever doubt that again."

He turned to Dr. Miller. "Yes, you can cancel the appointment. Right, Baby Girl?"

"Yeah." she nodded, smiling brightly. She made a mental note to thank Hotch for sending Derek to pick her up.

"But maybe we need an appointment for the first ultrasound," Derek suggested.

Dr. Miller chuckled. "Emma will make an appointment with you."

"And after that, I'm gonna take you out for breakfast. Then for lunch, and for dinner." Derek stood up, offering Penelope his hand to help her get up, and then pulled her close against him. "I love you," he whispered into her ear.

"Yeah, you said so before," she giggled.

"And I'm gonna say it over and over and over again." Putting his arm protectively around her shoulders, Derek led her out to the desk, where Emma gave them an appointment for the first ultrasound scan.

"I love you, too," Penelope whispered and softly pecked his lips. Then she blushed. "I'm sorry," she mumbled.

Frowning at her, Derek asked, "For what?"

"Well…" Penelope stuttered, "we… we didn't talk about… making it public, yet, so…"

"Hogwash!" Derek nudged her nose. "As far as I'm concerned, the whole wide world can know that we're an item – and that we're expecting a baby." To prove his words, Derek turned around to the other patients in the waiting room. "Did you hear that? We're gonna be parents. Penelope Garcia – soon to be Morgan – and I are expecting a child."

"Stop that!" Penelope slapped his arm.

"Congratulations." One of the other women smiled at them. "It's obvious you're looking forward to it."

"Most definitely," Derek agreed, grinning at Penelope and putting his arm around her waist to pull her close to him again. "These two are the best gift I have gotten in a very long time."


	10. Announcements

**Title: **Announcements

**Fandom:** Criminal Minds

**Pairing:** Morgan/Garcia

**Prompt for ****10 dates:** #1 First

**Rating:** T

**Disclaimer:** Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to CBS. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time.

**Summary:** Part 10/10 of the 'Long Way'-series. Well, it's the last part, and it's their first day as a couple, starting with their first date.

**warnings:** none

**AN:** _So, here it is. The final chapter. Can you believe it? It's really been a long way, for our favorite couple as well as for me trying to get this done. But here it _finally_ is. :)_

_I still haven't started working in my new job, so there aren't any news I can tell at the moment. Maybe next time. :)_

_When we last saw our two heroes, they had finally sorted things out, after Hotch had sent Derek to pick Penelope up from her doctor. Now, they're having their first date – and they're planning on telling the team about their relationship, their engagement and the baby. Hope you enjoy it!_

The place he had chosen was cozy, and Penelope immediately liked it. He led her to a rather quiet corner, where they sat down on the sofa, close to each other.

"You like this place?" he asked, smiling at her.

Penelope nodded. "Yeah, it's... beautiful."

Grinning at her, he leaned over to softly peck her cheek. "Wait til you try the pancakes."

She giggled, tilting her head to demand a real kiss.

Derek gladly complied.

A slight coughing interrupted them. "What can I get you?" the waitress asked, smiling at Derek.

Penelope blushed slightly and immediately started to feel uncomfortable. The girl was beautiful, slender, with dark hair and tanned skin... Exactly Derek's type – and everything she, Penelope, wasn't.

"Pancakes," Derek told her, without taking his eyes off the woman next to him. "We'll take the pancakes. A coffee for me, and a frappuccino for the sweet lady."

"All right," the waitress said, frowning. She leaned forward in an attempt to gain Derek's attention by offering her cleavage to him. "And which sirup with the pancakes?"

It was painful how obvious the girl was offering herself to Derek, but he didn't even seem to take notice of her presence.

"Strawberry, right, Baby Girl?" he asked Penelope instead.

She nodded.

"And maple sirup for me," he added.

"Uh huh." The waitress turned around, holding her head up high, and stomped back to the counter.

Penelope giggled as she watched the waitress trying to pretend she didn't care that the hottest man on this planet had just sent her packing. "And Derek Morgan broke another heart."

He blinked at her in confusion. "Huh?"

Penelope frowned at him for a second. Did he really not know what she was talking about? "The waitress," she told him, pointing her head into the direction of the counter.

"Waitress?" he repeated.

Now, it was Penelope who blinked in confusion. "The girl who just took our orders." She raised an eyebrow.

Derek just frowned. "What about her?"

"She was... practically... Never mind," she mumbled. Her heart was skipping a few beats as she realized that Derek obviously hadn't noticed that hot and more than ready girl, because he only had eyes for her.

"So, Hotch already knows about us," Derek said, deciding to change the topic as he realized that Penelope was starting to feel uncomfortable. He only wondered why. "And he knows about the baby."

Penelope nodded. "After I... had avoided you for a while, he kind of figured it out on his own – except for the part about the baby."

"What about the others?" he asked. "I mean, this is really big, and... we should make it kind of... official, don't you think?"

"Well, what… What do you have in mind?" Penelope carefully asked, not sure what 'official' was supposed to mean.

Derek grinned mischievously at her, making Penelope feel excited and a little scared at the same time. He wasn't planning on ravishing her in front of the others, right?

The waitress interrupted them again, serving the coffee and the frappuccino.

Derek didn't even seem to notice that it was a different girl now. He mumbled a thanks, without even looking at her.

Penelope smiled at the other woman, who was clearly older than the first waitress, and the woman winked at her.

When the waitress had gone back to the counter, Derek grabbed Penelope's hand and searched her eyes with his. "I'm serious about this, Baby Girl. You and I having a baby is a big deal, and I… I don't want to tell the others during the daily briefing."

She just nodded, still not sure what he was driving at.

"So, I thought about having a party. You know, just some time off with our friends," he suggested. "It's been a long time since we last had the chance to just hang out as friends."

"That's true," Penelope agreed. "And you want to tell them at the party?"

Derek smiled impishly again. "Nah, they're all profilers, after all. We'll let them figure it out on their own."

Penelope raised her eyebrow. "You really think it will tip them off, if we cuddle the whole night long?"

Derek leaned so close that Penelope could feel his hot breath against her mouth. "No," he whispered, "but this will." Crossing the tiny distance between them, Derek pulled her into a breathtaking kiss.

"Yeah, certainly," Penelope panted, rather than said.

"Besides," Derek said conspiratorially, "the ring on your finger will be a unique identifier."

Penelope's eyes almost popped out of her head.

"What?" Derek frowned at her. "Did you think I wasn't serious when I said I wanted to marry you earlier?"

"I did," she assured him. "I just… I don't know. I guess I just hadn't realized you meant as soon as possible."

"You know, I could tell you I was old-fashioned and thought that in a situation like this, I just have to put a ring on your finger immediately." He smiled at her, took her hand in his, and gently kissed her fingertips. "But as a matter of fact, I want you to wear my ring so the whole world can see that you're very much taken."

"What, are you jealous?" Penelope tried not to show how exciting this thought was for her. Derek Morgan was jealous because of her.

"Yeah, maybe I am," he admitted. "I just want to make sure that you don't change your mind because a much hotter guy than me thought you were available and hit on you."

"Yeah, how likely is _that_?" Penelope rolled her eyes.

Derek quickly looked around the small café and smiled at her. "I'd say chances are three to one only in this place."

Penelope blinked at him in confusion. "Huh?"

"Look around!" Derek grinned at her as she let her eyes wander around the place. "There are five men in here, and three I would consider a potential threat."

"Yeah, I'm sure they are," Penelope mumbled, taking a sip from her cup.

"Hey…" Derek frowned at her. "Don't think they didn't notice you just because none of them approached you. It's pretty obvious that you're taken, with us kissing all the time." To prove his words, he leaned in for another soft kiss. "But the ring will make it obvious to other men for the times I'm not around."

Penelope giggled. Suddenly, she didn't care anymore if Derek was right about the other men or not. It didn't matter anyway. She had her own personal chocolate Adonis right by her side.

The waitress served their pancakes and smiled. "Is there anything else I can get you?"

"The bill, please," Derek told her. "Unfortunately, we're a little in a hurry."

Nodding, the older woman winked at Penelope again and turned to leave.

"Are we?" Penelope raised her eyebrows at Derek.

"Of course we are." Derek grinned at her. "First, we need to buy the rings. Then we have to prepare everything for tonight – and we have to invite the whole team over. And then…"

"Wait a minute, you want to tell them _today_?"

"Sure," Derek replied, shrugging. "Why wait? The team is in town now. Who knows about tomorrow or next week? Besides, I'm not sure I won't just tell them tomorrow at work, because I'm overwhelmed by how lucky I am."

"Okay, okay," Penelope chuckled. "Your arguments are convincing."

They finished their breakfast, teasing each other, laughing and kissing a lot in between.

Derek then took Penelope to the jeweler where he had chosen a ring. "I wanted to show it to you before I bought it and see if you like it," he explained.

"It's perfect," she whispered, examining the ring on her finger, gold with a ruby on top.

"Good." Derek gently kissed her temple. "Perfect is just good enough. I'll take it."

"No, you can't," Penelope told him in a low voice. "It's probably too expensive. It really is perfect, but…"

Derek silenced her by putting his finger over her lips. Smiling, he turned to the jeweler. "I'll take it." He then turned back to Penelope and added, "Period."

She couldn't stop staring at the ring, and Derek couldn't stop smiling at her. "It's getting serious," he whispered, as they entered his apartment and he pulled her into his arms.

"Yeah." She closed her eyes for a moment, leaning her head against his muscular chest. "Are you getting cold feet?"

"No," Derek chuckled, kissing the top of her head. "You?"

Grinning, Penelope looked up at him. "Don't think you're gonna get rid of me that easy!"

"Oh, I hope I won't," he teased back, and then leaned down for another kiss.

Soon, the kiss became more passionate, and Derek felt Penelope's hands slip under his shirt. He knew they didn't have time for this. Their friends would be here soon, and there was a lot to prepare. But he honestly didn't care. It had been too long.

"I missed you," Penelope whispered against his lips, as he started unbuttoning her blouse. "I missed you so much."

Lifting her up, Derek carried her into his bedroom. "Just promise me one thing," he whispered between soft kisses. "Promise that you'll still be here when I wake up next time."

"Promise," she assured him. "I'm not going anywhere again, ever."

They soon got lost in their emotions, thus forgetting about time, which was the only thing they didn't have.

When Derek woke up, he wrapped his arms tighter around his Baby Girl, inhaling her scent.

"What time is it?" she mumbled against his chest, without opening her eyes.

"It's…" Derek turned to take a look at the alarm clock on his bedside table, and shot up the next second. "Ten past five!"

"What?" Penelope exclaimed. It had only been past twelve when they'd arrived at Derek's apartment. Their friends would be here in less than an hour, and they hadn't even started preparing anything yet.

"You take a shower, I'll take care of the kitchen. We'll switch afterwards," Derek told her, before he disappeared out the door.

"Okay," Penelope called after him.

It took her less than ten minutes to get ready, a personal record, and she found that Derek had cleaned up the kitchen and parts of the living room already.

"You can go to the bathroom now," she softly told him. "I'll take care of the rest – and the chili con carne."

Smiling, Derek turned around to peck the tip of her nose. "How can you call it chili con carne, if it's vegetarian?"

"Okay, let's call it chili sin carne. Fits me better, anyway." She leaned forward in a very lecherous way, making Derek growl.

"Baby, if you keep teasing me like this, we'll never get out of bed again," he said in a low voice, sending prickles down Penelope's spine. But before she could say anything, he had disappeared towards the bathroom.

Taking a deep breath, Penelope started finishing cleaning up the living room.

About half an hour later, the ringing of the doorbell interrupted her in the middle of setting the living room table. She quickly got rid of the apron she was wearing and opened the door.

"Hey," the girls greeted her, hugging Penelope and each handing her a bottle of wine.

"Come in," Penelope told them. "Dinner is almost ready."

Hotch waited until the rest of the team had disappeared into the living room, before he smiled at Penelope. "I guess you sorted things out."

"Yeah, very much so," Penelope said nodding. "Thank you, for… sending Derek to pick me up."

"Well, I was hoping you would finally talk," Hotch replied, smiling at her. "That he proposed exceeds my highest expectations, though."

Penelope blushed and fidgeted with the ring on her finger.

"I guess that's the reason you invited us over," Hotch stated. "That and the baby."

"Isn't it boring at times to know everything beforehand?" Penelope sighed. "I mean, where's the surprise life holds ready for you?"

"I don't know everything beforehand," Hotch smirked. "Luckily, I've got people like you in my life, who manage to surprise me every now and then."

"Well, it didn't work this time," she said, shrugging.

"I was pretty surprised when you told me you were pregnant," he admitted. "By the way, I tried to convince them wine wasn't the best idea, but they wouldn't listen."

"Yeah, well, they'll figure it out themselves after dinner, I guess." Penelope smiled at him.

"Hey there, are you frozen to the floor or something?" Emily called out for them.

Chuckling, Penelope and Hotch joined the rest of the team in the living room.

"Where's Derek, anyway?" JJ wanted to know.

"He's in the kitchen preparing the chili," Penelope replied.

Emily grimaced. "You sure you should let him do that without supervision?"

"Okay, maybe I should check on the dinner," Penelope giggled. "Make yourselves at home."

Penelope stepped inside the kitchen and remained standing in the doorframe for a while. "Derek Morgan in an apron standing in front of the oven preparing dinner, and I didn't bring my camera along."

"One day, and you turned my independent, go-go self into a homemaker." Derek sighed theatrically.

"I don't know…" Penelope sashayed closer and wrapped her arms around his waist. "For me, it's kinda sexy."

"Well, then," he said, turning in her embrace and leaning in closer, "I'm gonna play the dream hubby for as long as you want me to."

He crossed the small distance between them to get lost in another breathtaking kiss.

Only a second later, a squee at the door made them jump apart.

"Oh. My. God," JJ exclaimed, squeed again, and disappeared into the living room.

"You won't believe what I just saw right in that kitchen," they heard her almost shout at the others, as they followed her. "He kissed her. Derek Morgan just kissed Penelope, right on her lips."

Wrapping his arm around Penelope's waist, Derek led her into his living room. "Well, that wasn't the way we were planning on telling you, but… Yes, we're an item. We're gonna get married, and we're having a baby."

Emily's and JJ's jaws almost hit the floor. The latter let herself sink on the sofa.

"When did all that happen?" Emily asked, still standing there open-mouthed.

"Maybe we should eat first," Derek replied, smiling at her. "That's… a long story, kind of."


End file.
